Review of "From a Bridge Car" by Elias Lieberman

"From a Bridge Car" by Elias Lieberman was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 30, 2013.  A link to the poem may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23799?utm_source=PAD%3A+From+a+Bridge+Car+by+Elias+Lieberman&utm_campaign=poemaday_113013&utm_medium=email

Elias Lieberman (1883 - 1969), a Russian immigrant to the United States, earned his PhD from New York University.  He worked as an English teacher in the New York City public school system for many years.

"From a Bridge Car" is a short ballad most likely inspired by a view of one of the rivers surrounding New York City.  The poet uses the river as a metaphor for the city and its inhabitants:  always moving, ever changing, powerful, and mysterious.

Review of "Prayer from a Mouse" by Sarah Messer

"Prayer from a Mouse" by Sarah Messer was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 29, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23770?utm_source=PAD%3A+Prayer+from+a+Mouse+by+Sarah+Messer&utm_campaign=poemaday_112913&utm_medium=email

The poet reveals in her notes that her poem is a devotional prayer to a Supreme Being.  The speaker is the poet, represented metaphorically as a mouse.  The mouse longs one day to behold the face of the Supreme Being, if only for an instant.

New Poem: "Hand Sanitizer"

"Hand Sanitizer" is the latest installment in the poetic memoir of my travels to Indonesia as part of the tsunami relief effort of 2005.  More than all the fancy medical equipment I brought with me in my supply kit, the most important item by far was a case of hand sanitizers.  I grabbed it on the way out of McGuire as I deployed--it was not normally part of the medical supply kit.

New Poem: "Durian"

"Durian" is the next installment in my poetic memoir tentatively entitled A Wave of Poetry, which recounts my odyssey to Indonesia in 2005 when I was a USAF flight surgeon.  Durian trees could be found growing in the outskirts of the makeshift airfield out of which we were operating.  Our Indonesian counterparts fooled us into eating some durian fruit, "to prove our manliness."  They all had a good laugh at our expense, as the taste of the durian fruit is absolutely putrid.  At the least the incident makes for a humorous poem.

Review of "Thanks" by W. S. Merwin

"Thanks" by W. S. Merwin was offered by Poet.org's Poem-A-Day on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2013.  A link to the poem may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20492

William Stanley Merwin (b. 1927) is a prolific poet and translator.  He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twice and is the recipient of myriad other prestigious awards, fellowships, and grants.  In 2010, he was appointed the seventeenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.  A detailed biography may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/123?utm_source=PAD%3A+Thanks+by+W.+S.+Merwin&utm_campaign=poemaday_112813&utm_medium=email

The poem begins as a slightly tired "thank you" for all our blessings, but slowly morphs into a dark, cynical piece about all that is wrong with the world--and how we reflexively accept these wrongs and give meaningless thanks to an implied god who never listens.

Review of "Friend," by Jean Valentine

"Friend," by Jean Valentine was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 27, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23769

Jean Valentine (b. 1934) taught at New York University until 2004.  Since then, she has hosted many poetry seminars.  She is the author of several poetry collections and the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the 2009 Wallace Stevens Award.  A detailed biography may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/760?utm_source=PAD%3A+Friend%2C+by+Jean+Valentine&utm_campaign=poemaday_112713&utm_medium=email

Adrienne Rich (1929 - 2012) (pictured), the poet to whom the poem is dedicated, was the author of many poetry collections and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the 1997 Wallace Stevens Award.  She famously declined the 1997 National Medal of Arts, citing her differences of opinion with President Clinton.  A detailed biography may be found here: 

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/49

The poem is an elegy to Ms. Valentine's dear friend.  It is organized in three stanzas, the first two of four lines each, and the last of six lines--therefore, there is at least a nod to the Italian sonnet form.  However, the title is "Friend,"--the word "Friend" followed by a comma.  That comma is crucial, as it makes the title play a simultaneous role as a first line, as in the opening of a letter, "Dear Friend,".  So, the poem may also be viewed as a letter.  This is perhaps what the poet intended, as she reveals in her notes that it was a letter from Ms. Rich that sparked their intimate, years-long friendship.

Review of "Joyride" by Ana Bozicevic

"Joyride" by Ana Bozicevic was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 26, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23768?utm_source=PAD%3A+Joyride+by+Ana+Bozicevic&utm_campaign=poemaday_112613&utm_medium=email

The poet reveals in her notes that "Joyride" "is a play-by-play of a dream."  There is certainly a dream logic to the verses.  There is also a pleasant, lilting rhythm which argues against the dream being a nightmare, although some of the images are more consistent with a nightmare, and the words "bad dreams" are used later in the poem.  The final lines bring "you" into the narrative in a puzzling way.  The final sentence should end with a question mark--the reason it does not is unclear.

Review "Coming and Going" by Tony Hoagland

"Coming and Going" by Tony Hoagland was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 25, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23767

Tony Hoagland (b. 1953) is a teacher at the University of Houston and Warren Wilson College.  He is the author of several poetry collections and the recipient of numerous poetry awards.  A detailed biography may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/112?utm_source=PAD%3A+Coming+and+Going+by+Tony+Hoagland&utm_campaign=poemaday_112513&utm_medium=email

"Coming and Going" is a poem about love, life, and loss.  A somber mood is set at once in the opening line about the speaker's (presumably the poet's) marriage ending.  Metaphorically, the end of the marriage occurs as the speaker goes on a wild goose chase in search of his car in an airport garage--it is only in the end that he remembers that he took a cab to the airport.  The airplanes coming in for a landing are used metaphorically to represent the hidden underbelly of life.  The shrieking of the rubber tires of the landing planes is used metaphorically to represent the death knell of the speaker's marriage.  Finally, the speaker returns to the airport to pick up the luggage or baggage that he will have to carry on his own for the rest of his life.

Review of "Montparnasse" by Ernest Hemingway

"Montparnasse" by Nobel Prize winning author Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) (pictured) was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 24, 2013.  A link to the poem may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23774?utm_source=PAD%3A+Montparnasse+by+Ernest+Hemingway&utm_campaign=poemaday_112413&utm_medium=email

As with much of Hemingway's fiction, this poem explores a taboo subject, in this instance suicide.  The poem speaks to the denial involved by the acquaintances of a suicide, but at the same time speaks of its universality.

The title probably refers to the large cemetery in Montparnasse quarter of Paris.  Many of France's intellectuals and artists are buried there.  Hemingway himself lived much of his life in Paris as an expatriate.

Dr. Gordon is the Featured Poet in the November 2013 Print Edition of Scifaikuest

The following poems, twenty-one in all, by Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD, the editor of Songs of Eretz, may be found in the November 2013 print edition of Scifaikuest in which Dr. Gordon is the featured poet:

Haiku:

Ten Martian Haiku
hybridized rooibos
rippling rusty sands
model for Giza
may we come over
Martian equator
Deimos and Phobos
sandstorm of Ares
gone your red sand seas
tallest of mountains
from desert planet

Galilean Moons
Io
Ganymede

burning ambition
elemental flames
phoenix feathers
pointing and laughing
by earthlight's warm glow
coming and going
last scotch on the rocks

Tanka:

speculative dwarves
thunder lizards

The presentation is marred slightly by the inclusion of by earthlight's warm glow, coming and going, and last scotch on the rocks in the tanka section, and by the inclusion of phoenix feathers as part of the linked, rhyming haiku of Galilean Moons (which was originally composed as a four-poem set including haiku about the other two Galilean moons, Europa and Callisto).

Also included in the issue are an interview with and bio of Dr. Gordon.  Individual copies of the print edition are available for purchase at http://store.albanlake.com/product/scifaikuest-issue-42/ for six dollars.  A one-year subscription to the quarterly magazine is available for twenty-four dollars.

New Poem: "making sense of love"

"making sense of love" is a ten-word haiku-like poem that was inspired by Robert E. Porter's thoughtful essay "Three Sisters" which appears in the November print edition of Scifaikuest.  There is a pun on "sense" vs. "scents" and another on "massage" vs. "message."  It's nice when I can get two puns in a poem of so few words.  It makes me feel oh so clever.

Review of "Austerity" by Janet Loxley Lewis

"Austerity" by Janet Loxley Lewis (1899 - 1998) was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 23, 2013.  A link to the poem may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23773?utm_source=PAD%3A+Austerity+by+Janet+Loxley+Lewis&utm_campaign=poemaday_112313&utm_medium=email

The speaker, presumably the poet, sings of how she enjoys a life of solitude and privacy.  Mrs. Lewis uses "cold hills" as a metaphor for isolation, as opposed to the relative bustle of "life in the turfy meadow" all buzzing with bees.  The buzz of bees may be a metaphor for the sounds of a busy city.

Review of "Mural with HUD Housing & School Bus (1980)" by Adrian Matejka

"Mural with HUD Housing & School Bus (1980)" by Adrian Matejka, a creative writing teacher at Indiana University in Bloomington, was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 22, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23764?utm_source=PAD%3A+Mural+with+HUD+Housing+%26+School+Bus+%281980%29+by+Adrian+Matejka&utm_campaign=poemaday_112213&utm_medium=email

The poet reveals in his notes that his poem is an ekphrastic love song inspired by the work of David Alfaro Siqueiros' painting "Echo of a Scream" (pictured).  Honestly, I do not see the connection.  I suspect the poet was jonesing for a cigarette at the time he composed the poem, as there are quite a few references to cigarettes in it.

Review of "One Shies at the Prospect of Raising Yet Another Defense of Cannibalism" by Josh Bell

"One Shies at the Prospect of Raising Yet Another Defense of Cannibalism" by Josh Bell, the Briggs-Copeland Lecturer on English at Harvard, was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 21, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23763?utm_source=PAD%3A+One+Shies+at+the+Prospect+of+Raising+Yet+Another+Defense+of+Cannibalism&utm_campaign=poemaday_112113&utm_medium=email

This extremely prosaic "poem" has quite a bit in it about "you" kissing movies and movies not caring much that you do.  More rambling nonsense out of Harvard, I guess.  Makes me glad I'm an Amherst man.

Review of "The Problem of Hands" by Louise Mathias

"The Problem of Hands" by Louise Mathias was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 20, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23762

The theme of the poem is the nervous energy or sexual tension surrounding suddenly finding oneself close to someone attractive.  The poem consists of fifteen lines arranged in irregular stanzas which, when read aloud, may simulate the catching of breath that might occur in such a situation.

Technical Difficulties Solved!

Dear Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine and Blog Readers and Contributors,

Good news!  We were able to re-format and (we hope you will agree) improve the presentation of the blog and e-zine.  Doing so appears to have solved all of our recent glitches and technical difficulties.

Best of all, we can continue to use the free blogspot.com as a hosting site.  We still possibly may ask for donations and sell tasteful classified ads for the e-zine, but we are happy that we will not be forced to do so now.  We are even more happy that we will be able to continue to offer free public access to the blog and e-zine.

Please note that only the most recent blog post will show now when the blog page is brought up.  In order to see older posts, click "older posts" located just below the post that is showing.  To go back and see newer posts, click "newer posts."  To go back to the most recent post, click "home."  Hopefully this will be fairly intuitive.


To access the e-zine, e-zine archive, and other features, go to the section with the darker brown background located just below the blog post and click on the appropriate link.  We were able to expand the size of the e-zine--a noticeable improvement.  To return to the blog page or to navigate elsewhere on the site, again go to the darker brown section and choose the appropriate link.

Thank you for your patience while we addressed these troublesome issues.  Please let us know how the new presentation of the site looks on your end and if you are having any problems accessing the blog or e-zine.  We welcome your feedback and comments!

Best,

Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD
Editor

Technical Difficulties

Dear Songs of Eretz Poetry E-zine & Blog Followers and Contributors,

We are experiencing many technical difficulties with our free blogspot.com host--too many.  The latest glitch involves the last word of each line displayed being broken in the middle with the remaining letters of the word wrapping around to the next line.  This problem has affected both our blog posts and the e-zine.  On top of this, we have been receiving feedback that our site does not always load properly and sometimes does not load at all, depending upon what browser is used.  The situation is simply unacceptable.

The advantage of a free hosting site is the price.  By not having to pay a hosting site, we have been able to offer generous pay rates to our e-zine contributors and offer free viewing to our followers.  However, we feel that the quality of the service from blogspot is now so poor that using it is no longer worth the "price."

We are actively looking for a new, professional hosting site.  Once we find a suitable new home, we will be asking for donations and selling classified advertisements to offset the cost.  The e-zine is a labor of love as it is--the honorariums for the contributing poets come directly out of the editor's pocket.  We do want to continue to offer the blog posts and e-zine access for free to the public, so please consider purchasing an ad or making a generous donation to assist us.

We ask that you please bear with us and look for further (poorly formatted) announcements and updates here until we make the switch.  Those on our email list will also receive email updates.  In the interim, please know that we appreciate your patience and understanding.

Kindest regards,

Steven Wittenberg Gordon, MD
Editor

Review of "Toad" by Diane Seuss

"Toad" by Diane Seuss, a Writer in Residence at Kalamazoo College, was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 19, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23760?utm_source=PAD%3A+Toad+by+Diane+Seuss+&utm_campaign=poemaday_111913&utm_medium=email

The poem is comprised of thirteen quatrains of uniform length with between eight and ten syllables per line.  The poem begins with the description of a toad that has been crushed into a road.  This reminds the poet of a live toad that she once found and held in her hand.

The coloration, fear, and helplessness of this live toad reminds the poet of her deceased father and grandfather.  It is apparent that her father died young and predeceased her grandfather.

The poem comes full circle, ending with the toad--but the living one rather than the crushed one.  The poet uses the present tense in the final quatrain, giving an immediacy to the emotions evoked.

Review of "In a Landscape: IV" by John Gallaher

"In a Landscape: IV" by John Gallaher, a teacher at Northwest Missouri State University, was offered by Poets.org's Poem-A-Day on November 18, 2013.  A link to the poem, including the poet's notes, may be found here:

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/23759?utm_source=PAD%3A+In+a+Landscape%3A+IV+by+John+Gallaher+&utm_campaign=poemaday_111813&utm_medium=email

The poet reveals in his notes that this poem was inspired by "In a Landscape" and SILENCE by John Cage.  The poem is part of a much larger work.

The poem opens with "Now the scene changes."  This is a warning that the scenes described in this rather rambling prosaic poem will change rapidly.

The poem is divided into three stanzas.  The first, after rambling a bit about philosophical nothings, finally gets to its point of the helplessness felt by parents whose child is hospitalized.  The parents tend to blame themselves for circumstances beyond their control.  The sad part here, as the poet points out, is that the parents have to deal with both the actual sickness of their child as well as their own irrational response to it.

The second stanza continues with the theme of the irrational parental reaction.  Then, it suddenly veers into a scene where the poet becomes trapped under a filing cabinet that he was moving up a flight of stairs.  Filing cabinets usually hold documentation of the past.  This may be a metaphor for literally being crushed or overwhelmed by past circumstances.  This idea is borne out by the poet's frequent references to museums.

The final stanza relates impressions of a minor motor vehicle accident in which the poet was involved.  The poet reveals in his notes that this part is unfortunately based on actual events.